FOBLOKI - Mari of My Silly Little Thoughts

This week's post-Thanksgiving FOBLOKI interviewee is Mari of My Silly Little Thoughts. If you've never visited her blog, then you are missing out on some of the most artfully designed and decorated cookies to be found on the web. Our interview took place over a virtual plate of cookies (and milk, of course!)

IsItEDible: Mari, welcome to FOBLOKI. Let's get it started in here. What is your earliest cooking-related memory?
Mari: Helping my father make one of his infamous Sunday stews. He would take leftovers and make a stew or soup with them. My mother, who is a fabulous cook, would cringe at the idea of him being in the kitchen. My older brother was nowhere to be found on Sundays, and so my father would lure me into the kitchen, lock the door, hide the key, and make me his assistant. It was actually fun and gave us the better part of an afternoon together.

IsItEDible: Sounds like good times. Why did you initially decide to start a food blog?
Mari: Well, I don't really consider my blog a food blog. It's more a combination of design, or the creative process of decorating cookies, and baking. I started it because friends asked me where I get the inspiration for my designs and how I execute those ideas. I thought the blog would be a perfect way to share this process with others.

IsItEDible: Maybe we should rename FOBLOKI to DEBLOKI (DEsign BLOgger's KItchen) for this week. Where do you get the inspiration for your cookies?
Mari: It really depends. Sometimes I see a color that I think is unusual, like an electric green and think, "I should use that color." Or someone mentions an idea I haven't thought of and it become the basis for my next design. Often my ideas come to me as I start cutting the cookies; I wonder how I'm going to fill the space on them and go from there.

IsItEDible: Let's move on to the name of your blog. I love it. How did you come up with it?
Mari: On a whim, really. It's not a very good name - my silly little thoughts - but I think the blog is full of my silly thoughts. I've actually almost completed an overhaul of my main website and with that will be a new blog with a different name. That will be, I guess, I somewhat more 'serious' blog .

IsItEDible: In a nutshell, can you tell us more about the process you use to create a blog entry?
Mari: I've realized that I tend to write anecdotes a lot. I remember something funny or interesting and somehow connect it with my latest design.

IsItEDible: What has been one of your favorite blog posts to write?
Mari: For my friend's birthday I wrote a post about her and our friendship: "A Rose is a Rose, is a Rose..."

IsItEDible: What has been one of the most difficult blog posts to write?
Mari: This one was hard because it was very personal. My doctor found a small lump in my right breast and though I was eventually declared cancer-free, the experience of not knowing what was going to happen frightened me. And I was still pretty new to blogging, so I wasn't sure how personal and open I should be. I'm glad I wrote it.

IsItEDible: Mari, I know that must have been a hard one to write. Finally, what is one thing we wouldn't know about you just from reading your blog?
Mari: That I almost never eat cookies, cakes or ice cream. I rarely eat desserts, and I stay away from sugar if I can.

IsItEDible: I would have never guessed that! And now the QUICKFIRES...

IsItEDible: What foods warm your heart?
Mari: A really good bowl of chili con carne.

IsItEDible: What foods strike fear in it?
Mari: Squid.

IsItEDible: What turns you on in the kitchen?
Mari: Garlic.

IsItEDible: What turns you off?
Mari: Any kind of liver.

IsItEDible: In the kitchen, what sound or smell do you love?
Mari: Garlic and onions sauteeing in olive oil.

IsItEDible: In the kitchen, what sound or smell do you hate?
Mari: Garbage.

IsItEDible: What word or phrase is heard most often in your kitchen?
Mari: Shoot. I forgot to take that out of freezer.

IsItEDible: What's your favorite kitchen appliance/gadget?
Mari: My professional grade and size KitchenAid mixer. It's massive. If my house were on fire, I'd go back in for it.

IsItEDible: What recipe or dish are you known for?
Mari: I'm known best for making an Asian style marinated seabass that I cook en papillotte (in parchment paper). I don't have a recipe; I just watched a Vietnamese friend make it once, and improvised on her rendition. It's very straightforward: butterfly the seabass, then marinate it in a mixture of soy sauce, lime juice, chopped cilantro, scallions, and freshly grated ginger. A little fish sauce and chopped serano pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes en papillotte. Serve with brown rice. Take one bite and fuggeddaboudit.

IsItEDible: What recipe or dish would you like to attempt?
Mari: Kransekake. I think this is originally a Norwegian cake (though it's prevalent throughout Scandinavia); it's a ring cake made of almond paste. You make large, medium and small rings and then make a tower of them to form a kind of tree. The cake itself isn't very tasty but it's the architectural aspect of the cake that intrigues me. I think I'll try it someday and then maybe make it out of different (more tasty) flavors. My grandmother-in-law gave us one on our wedding day; she said that no one can get married without a Kransekake at their wedding. Ours was covered with tiny flags from the U.S., Norway and Japan. Here's a link to one recipe.

IsItEDible: Mari, thanks so much for FOBLOKI-ing with us! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your future design creations.